Luton run riot as England pretender Green loses his footing and confidence

Tuesday 18 October 2005 20.06 EDT
First published on Tuesday 18 October 2005 20.06 EDT

Robert Green will be grateful for Sven-Goran Eriksson's lack of attention to the Championship. The Norwich goalkeeper, one of the pretenders for Paul Robinson's England jersey, made a slip that would have made David James squirm to gift Luton their second goal.

Carlos Edwards's cross, from around 40 yards out and on the touchline, sailed over Green's head and into the net after he had misjudged the ball's flight and lost his balance. After that, the goalkeeper's confidence evaporated and Norwich suffered an annihilation, sheepishly leaving the field four goals behind at half-time.

"It was just an incident that can happen but, at a crucial moment of the match, we lost our shape and discipline for 25 minutes and they took full advantage," Norwich's manager Nigel Worthington said.

All three relegated Premiership sides have now been defeated by Luton. Mike Newell's team may not be a former Premiership side or a so-called "big name", but they are one of the Championship heavyweights. The shock defeat against Crewe on Saturday was easily exorcised.

This result was not a case of Norwich being unimpressive. It was Luton being unstoppable. "They were as big a threat as anybody that we have played at home," Newell said of Norwich. "Their supporters have gone off shouting 'what a load of rubbish' and I don't think they were.

"We haven't played a side that's better than us," he added. That is hardly surprising. The big question is whether more than one exists because it is not premature to speculate on Luton's automatic promotion credentials.

Norwich had an early chance before the avalanche of Luton goals crushed them. Jim Brennan's high ball caused uncertainty and Ian Henderson followed it up with a powerful effort that hit the underside of the crossbar before Paul McVeigh failed to convert the follow-up.

Simon Charlton managed to block a Chris Coyne shot as the home side burst forward in response, but the Luton centre-back took full advantage of his rare foray forwards by gathering the ball again, on the right, and sending in the cross that Warren Feeney pounced on from close range to put Luton ahead.

Then Edwards beat Green and Norwich unravelled. "It's a complete fluke," said Newell. "It was a cross, a bad cross." With the crowd taunting the Norwich goalkeeper mercilessly, he panicked again and almost allowed Steve Robinson to dispossess him moments later.

Green could do nothing, however, as Peter Holmes eased his way into a shooting position and lashed in Luton's third. The home side soon mocked the visitors when in possession, Dean Morgan's extravagant back-heel carving Norwich's defence wide open. The fourth goal duly arrived when Holmes's cross was headed in by Steve Howard.

To Norwich's credit, they charged out in the second half intending to salvage what appeared to be a lost cause. Henderson forced Marlon Beresford to tip over before Ashton was denied by Ahmet Brkovic's clearance off the line. Ashton eventually hammered in from distance and Norwich threw everything forward.

Their faint comeback hopes ended when Callum Davenport received a second booking, reducing them to 10 men, although Ryan Jarvis's header eventually reduced the deficit.